KittyinNj

Our policy is. At our entrance it states if you have recently visited Nigeria Liberia etc please notify the front desk reception prior to triage. Yup that's a good method! ( insert sarcasm right here ) we have shared bathrooms and only two airborne ISO rooms. Mind you this is one of the best hospitals in central nj. We got a mass email that a policy has been put in place but no info of this policy! I'd love to see more then two ebola pts come in. Funny how the top notch hospital such as Emory or Texas has only 3 proper ISO rooms as stated in their press report. By the time the test would come back positive the nurses doctors techs transport people would have all been in contact. I'm sorry but I did not sign up to "die due to my exposures at my job." Since flu season is upon us many nurses have been calling out sick due to getting the flu thanks to our patients. What does management do? They sit and complain about the call outs! Maybe the managers and charge r n will be left to take care of the ebola pts should this really get out of control :) Id be interested to see how many nurses start refusing care of an Ed pt who has traveled to the areas of the ebola crisis.

Yes you can do it in ONLY 5 semesters, however, please don't take any offense to this, 5 semesters in a tough nursing program compared to psych classes is much different. you will have no life for 2 years and when I mean no life, I mean any of your time off is consumed by studying, learning, practicing, or being in nursing school :) Why do you want to do nursing if you recently just graduated with a psych degree? nursing is quite different field. also just as an fyi many new grads are having much difficulty finding jobs.

check out hospitals in the area you plan on moving too, some postings may say 1 year experience but apply anyways. hospitals are open to training new grads ( not even a residency program ) so don't narrow ur search just to that

Apply out of state. Most ni hospitals require exp. from what I've seen and heard.

I just sent u a private message.

whats units are u looking into I interviewed at a few dif places recently and my friends work at most of the places you listed above. pay rate is based on experience and degree, also depends what shift your on they are making cuts in all hospitals so be prepared to work your hump off :)

You can get acls bls but everyone else out there has them too. As far as speciality you need 2 years then sit in for the examination. Find a place thats willing to pay for ur acls or bls,,,, that or try ltc for awhile then do hospital

most of my friends from school went out of state including me. after 2 years exp its much easier to land a job. its just too crowded here and too many inexperienced and experienced people fighting for jobs . keep your mind open to relocating to pa, upstate ny, nc. youd be surprised how easy it is to land a job in western pa or upstate ny with good pay and great learning exp :)

no experience? look outside of nj.

pm if you can. yes the pt ratio is high varies from 6-9 depending on your floor. but i am shocked that some of the top ranked hospitals in nj also have 6-8 pts per nurse so dont let that get you down. the employees can be nasty from what my gf has shared with me, but u can switch floors after 6 months it hink? are youw orking days or nights?

I came into nursing as a 2nd career. First career paid 2 x as much and didnt have to deal with miserable old nurses. When i tell people i was in pharma the automatically assume i was in sales because i look like a model. Hey their words not mine LOL! Anyhows, I think floors should have a good mix of younger and older nurses. Its nice when the older nurses can teach the younger ones!! As for patients who may give better ratings based on looks? I highly doubt that! Now if your a great nurse + great looks then thats wonderful. You can also be old fat slow and still be a good nurse if you want. On the other hand, I dont know how a nurse with 20+ years of experience who weighs 250lbs can be as agile and flexbile as me who is 130 lbs and works out. as for them hiring younger nurses, its because theres high turn around. My floor has hired 15 new grads and we are level 1 trauma center along with top 50 hospital rating. Who in their right mind would want to do floor nursing and blow out your back at the age of 40 with the need of nerve block shots? not i, thats why floor nursing is a stepping stone not a finally nursing career choice for me. And as for the miserable older nurses, find something that you enjoy doing and dont eat your young, because the young can eat you too ciao

my friends from school work there, as a new grad yes ull learn, what type of nursing will u ne doinh? med surge? ed? etc, in this economy any type of nursing job is hard to come be with no experience. the pay is less yes but its better then no pay :) let me know what ud like to know my gfs are quite open in their experiences there

thamks!

Pt should be icu status, sorry the dr has been in there with me since 10 am this morning its7pm, youll prob have to call a rapid response tonight (mind you this was a new grad working on nights, i felt horrible for her, the md said pt was stable enough for floor status, didnt flitch when we attained abg 2x lol) he ended up being a rapid response at 3am

was curious to find out what the average patient ratio is on a neuro floor? I worked on a combined neuro ortho floor and it was 4-5 which at times was difficult, having 2 post ops ortho pts and add on 2-3 confused patients with evd drains lol i got a job offer for a neuro floor stroke certified center rated number 1 in my state. i am assuming they will be high acuity patients too. the ratio on this floor is 5. and in neuro icu 2. thoughts?

thanks for the responses :) appreciate it much! i have the er position and neuro and am torn between the two, i can def see the quick turnover being a good thing because yes the patients who have you for 1-3 days in a row do become quite needy and abusive at times

Im a med surge nurse with 1.5 years experience in ortho neuro trauma at a level 1 hospital . I am used to getting 2-4 admits and doing about 3-4 discharges a day. I would love to advance to the ER. I have an offer, but a part of me is scared to do it! The patient ratio is 4 unless vented or ICU status then 1. They do a podding system where you buddy up with your nurse so that means at times more then 4 patients. I wanna know what you guys think is the best part of working in the emergency room? And what do you think is the worse? Also i was told 11am-11pm is the busiest and i would be coming in from 3pm-3am. Does that mean i would have no sit down chart time from 3-11? Im used to working on a busy floor and feel the ER would def look n ice on my resume for future advancement! Thoughts/opinions would be appreciated much :)

ortho sucks, u have to lift everyone and their legs reposition etc. most pts r full assists add a spina bifida patient to a group of 5 and the day sucks !

big guys are always welcome, i worked on a busy neuro ortho floors and always loved the help of the male nurses helping me reposition that 150-200 lb pt ( im 5'8 120 skinny minnie nurse lol ) plus all those pts will be scared of you if they are misbehaving :)

with 1 year experience i have seen various offers : north jersey anywhere from 32-36 (on nights ) + 2-4$ weekend dif central nj 27$days-32 night shift pa 25-29$ being that your a new rn ull be on nights and can expect starting pay of 27-30$ not including night dif

i moved to pa to get the experience, finished the residency, you guys will def learn alot, however, dont expect any days off or any approved vacations, this place is notorious for favoring the highest seniority rns due to their union and regulations. not to mention the fact of being underpaid and worked like a dog :)

without experience places arent hiring, so i agree go to an office or a nursing home, i went out of state got my experience and now basically every hospital is wanting to interview me and offering jobs left and right to th epoint that im so confused im not sure which to take LOL! i did my time moved out of state paid my dues now i am back with awesome experience and i can get the opportunity to pick what i want :)

1 year med surge experience. but starting in the ed next week yikes im scared help me lol!

dont fret things happen for a reason, keep applying at other places think and stay positivw

I eventually did move out of NJ and got wonderful experience at a trauma 1 hospital . Now NJ hospitals are calling me almost daily LOL funny how things work out. I definitely suggest doing something out of state. A few of my classmates have stayed in NJ and ended up in smaller hospitals or bigger hospitals with stressful jobs on a med surge floor taking6-8 pts which is unsafe. Stay positive, apply apply and apply :)